REFILE-UAE, Oman plan to take on the Caribbean and become cruise destination

December 12, 2013|Reuters

(Refiles to clarify countries in headline, and para 1)

* Gulf states plan cruise alliance

* Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman expanding cruise terminals

* Visas, security are barriers to growth

By Stanley Carvalho

ABU DHABI, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Two Gulf Arab countries aim totake on the Caribbean as it seeks to become a major destinationfor cruise tourism, especially during the winter months in thenorthern hemisphere.

After competing for business in the last few years, AbuDhabi and Dubai, both part of the seven-member United ArabEmirates, and neighbouring Oman are now collaborating to promotethe region as a cruise destination.

All three are investing in building additional cruiseterminals or facilities and plan to establish common operationaland technical standards, although visas and security issuesremain sticking points that need to be improved or could limitgrowth in the industry.

The three Gulf states are formalising a memorandum ofunderstanding to jointly develop the cruise industry in theregion, with others likely to join the alliance soon, twoindustry sources familiar with the matter told Reuters,declining to be named because the information is not yet public.

"It is an emerging cruise destination with positives such aswinter sun destination, rich cultural heritage, beautifulislands, deserts and with no funding problem," one of thesources said.

The biggest barrier to growth will be the issue of visas. The lack of a European-style Schengen single visa for entryinto the six Gulf states and the absence of multi-entry visasare major stumbling blocks, executives of cruise liners told theforum.

"A Gulf-wide cruise visa would be ideal to attract moretourists due to the entry and exit into multiple ports, leadingto reduced costs and less processing time," said Grant Holmes,CEO of Progress International, a cruise consultancy.

"The Gulf is a promising market but a clear short tomedium-term strategy is needed soon from all the Gulf statesafter forming an alliance to work together to promote theregion."

"The economic impact of this industry has been steadilygrowing," he said, adding that the emirate hosted 407,000 cruisepassengers last year, compared with just 7,000 in 2001.

Abu Dhabi had 180,000 passengers in the last cruise seasonand expects 220,000 passengers on 80 vessels this season.

The capital of the United Arab Emirates, which is investingbillions of dollars in tourism to build museums such as theLouvre and Guggenheim, is building a new permanent cruiseterminal to handle three to four cruise ships at a time. It isalso developing facilities on two nearby islands - Delma and SirBaniyas - for cruise tourists, Mohammed Al Dhaheri, Strategy &Policy Director, TCA Abu Dhabi, said.

Oman, which drew more than 300,000 cruise passengers in thelast season, has approved plans for a new terminal at the portof Muttrah, one of three ports open to cruise vessels, Salim binAday Al-Mamari, director-general of tourism development, toldthe forum.

Qatar and Bahrain are also emerging cruise destinations withseveral liners calling at their ports.

With the region gearing up for two major global events -Expo 2020 in Dubai and the FIFA world cup in Qatar in 2022,tourism is set to increase.

Political turmoil and violence elsewhere in the Middle East,however, puts the Gulf firmly at a disadvantage compared tocruise destinations such as the Caribbean and Gulf states needto do more to convince tourists that their countries are safefor travel.

Temperatures that can top 40 C in the summer months in theGulf are another handicap.

"Safety and security is critical for all liners as well asguests and work needs to be done to dispel the perception ofregional instability," said Holmes at Progress international.